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Tuesday, 25 February 2014

There are only four contestants left;
Nikki, Andi, Renee, and Claire. And you know what that means? It's the home town date episode!

The first stop is a visit to Kansas
City, Nikki's hometown. She takes him to the best BBQ restaurant in
town. Yee Haw! And if that wasn't enough fun, she introduces him to
mechanical bull riding.

“He made me dance in Korea, so this
is pay back.”

Juan does great and she orders them a
couple of beers. Nikki tells us she's ready to say the big 'L' word,
but for some reason she doesn't feel it's the right time.

Maybe it's the mechanical bull giving
you the stinky eye.

Nikki brings Juan Pablo to meet her
family. She and her mom hug and cry while Juan Pablo shakes hands
with everyone. They sit down and Nikki's dad welcomes Juan to the
family.

That was easy.

Nikki's mom is totally on board. Her
dad smiles and plays twenty questions with Juan. Nikki's parents
trust her and if she wants Juan, they will welcome him into the
family.

Duh, you already did.

There's a lot of talk about trust and
love and support between Nikki and her parents. The piano plays
softly in the background.

Nikki's family seem nice and well
grounded. What the heck is she doing on the show?

She cuddles with Juan on the front
porch. This would be a good time to say, “I love you, Juan.”
Instead she says this, “Okay, good bye.”

She's not sure why she can't say it.

I do. It's because you're sending him
to visit another girl he might propose to.

Next stop is Andi's home in Atlanta.

Juan says, “Andi is just...mmm.”

Before she takes him to meet her family, Andi and Juan hit the shooting range.

I won't lie. It was a bit disturbing
seeing how accurate Andi was with that assault rifle. She tells us
there is no way she can take him home to meet her family if he
doesn't get a bulls eye.

ibtimes.com

Oh dear.

I'm pretty sure Sharleen wouldn't have
taken him to a shooting range.

Juan thinks it was a good idea. “Andi
was so relaxed after shooting those guns.”

Andi lets us know her family will hold
no punches and she's worried.

I'd be worried how many guns were in the
house.

On the door is a sign with “Welcome
Home Pookie!”

Andi tells us she's almost
in love and her family will tip her in the right direction. Andi's
dad makes it clear he's not excited to hear about all the dates with
all the other girls.

He tells the camera, “They're
infatuated with each other, but he's got three other girls in the
same position.”

Andi's dad is the staring role of the
voice of reason.

Patty, Andi's mom, does the first
interview with Juan. He's a little worried until she asks him for a
dance lesson. They salsa and have a good time, until 'the voice of
reason' shows up with a few questions.

Andi's dad asks the one million dollar
question. “What made you go on this show?”

Juan tap dances around that...sort of.

He tells Juan he can't give his
blessing until Juan says Andi is the only girl for him. Andi tells
her sister she's really into Juan and is close to falling in love.
Her sister says she doesn't think Andi is punch drunk love.

Andi is bummed because no one can tell
her that she should fall in love with Juan Pablo.

Ding dong. This is common sense
calling. If you can't convince yourself you're in love, other people
can't do it for you.

Andi tells us, “I think I felt
something different tonight. I think I could be falling in love.”

I think you're feeling the beginning
stages of herpes.

Sarasota, Florida is Renee's home. She
hasn't seen her son, Ben, for two months.

Hold on. She meets with Juan first BEFORE she sees her son. That's stupid.

She waits for Ben at the
ball field. When he arrives in his little league uniform, Renee pulls
him in to a hug and I get a little weepy. That is until I realize he has to do this reunion with his mom while Juan stands there watching beside a camera man.

Juan does his best small talk. Then he and Renee take to the stands. I'm sure Ben is loving having his mom and her TV boyfriend hang out in front of his teammates.

On a side note, the coach looked pretty cute. So
if things don't work out with Juan...

Juan gets excited about all the sporty
stuff he could do with a son.

Um...hello. Your daughter could play
baseball too. *grumbles*

All three arrive at Renee's parents.
Renee spends time catching up with Ben while her family interviews
Juan.

Renee lets her mom know she's in LOVE
with him. Her mom is happy she's sure about this dude, and her father
says he hasn't seen her glow like this for a long time.

While the car patiently waits, Juan
asks Renee what she's thinking. She says, “I'm thinking about a lot
of things.”

Poor Juan, no one can say, 'I love
you.'

When he drives away, she regrets not
telling him.

Sacramento is up next!

“I'm so excited to be here,” Juan
says. “When I'm with Claire I always have a good time.”

They hang out in Claire's favourite park. He
says he's looking forward to meeting her family so he can see why she
is the way she is.

True, dat.

Claire shares how she and her late dad
talked about her wedding. She said when he died the emotional part of
her shut down so she wouldn't feel pain anymore.

Juan meets Claire's five older sisters
and her mother. I think there was a brother-in-law in the mix
somewhere.

Her wisest sister takes her aside.
Claire starts to cry and says she hasn't been in love since her
father died and if Juan Pablo asked her to marry him, she'd say yes
in a heart beat.

Juan talks with the other sisters and
they are worried about Claire's 'tender heart'.

Claire's other sister, who is probably
the most jealous or at least the most fed up with having to deal with
a spoiled sister who cries all the time, asks how hurt she will be if
Juan doesn't choose her. Plus, she doesn't think the family can give their
blessing when neither one of them have said I love you.

Claire's mother stays quiet while the
two sisters squabble. Claire cries and says all she wants is for them
to be happy for her. The sister says, “I don't think you're
respecting Mama.”

There is more bickering and I can't figure out which sister is more crazy.Can you
imagine what the house was like with these girls growing up?

Juan
finally gets to talk with 'Mama'. They have a nice chat and she tells
him he'd be welcome into their family.

It's time for the rose ceremony.

The girls arrive in their stilettos and
push up bras. Claire and Nikki have another five minutes of not
talking.

Juan Pablo thanks the girls for sharing
their amazing families with him. He gives Nikki the first rose.
Claire gets the second.

Now it's down to Andi and Renee.

The stupid host comes out and reminds
everyone there's only one rose left.

Andi gets the last rose.

Juan can't look at Renee without
crying. He walks her to the limo and Claire licks her lips. Renee finally tells him she was
falling in love with him. But she's happy because this ridiculous
adventure has opened her eyes to what she could have.

Juan is weepy and says he has such
great respect for her.

Renee leaves in the limo. She wipes
away one tear and composes herself. “He obviously shared more
meaningful moments with the other girls. I came here to see if I
could find love, and I did. I'm very thankful.”

Dear Renee,

You handled that like a champ. I hope you date the
little league coach.